Trolley.



PTENTED FEB. 14, 1905.

B. WILLIAMS'.

TROLLEY.

APPLICATION IILIm JUNI: 17,1904.

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Patented February 14, 1905;

UNITED STATES rPATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, AssIGNOB OF ONE-HALF To w. F.VOLK, OF` ooLUMBUs, OHIO.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION Yforming part of Letters Patent'No. 782,589, datedFebruary 14, 1905.

' Appncmion iea June 17,1904.; serial 110.212,963. Y

,T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Trolleys, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to trolleys for electrically-propelled vehicles,particularly electric railroad-cars of the type in common use, and hasfor its particular object to provide means for maintaining a continuouselectrical connection between the feed or trolley wire and the motor andlights `of the car when the direction of movement of said car is to bereversed, as at the terminals of the line, or in cases where it isnecessary for some cause to stop a car and run it back over a section oftrack just passed over.

Accidentsresulting from collisions between moving cars and carstemporarily disconnected from the feed-wire, whereby it is impossible toquickly putA the latter into motion to avoid such collision are notunknown, and the necesley for reversing the movement of the car .withoutnecessitating the `attendants passing outside of the car from one endthereof to the other, as now commonly practiced, thereby eliminating thedanger to employees at present incident to shifting the trolley forrevers` ing the movement of ears on bridges, trestles, embankments, andthe like.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out inthe appended claims,y l it being understood that changes in the form,proportion, size, and minor details may be made Within the scope of theclaims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of this invention. i

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of arailroad-car provided with `my improved trolley. Fig. 2 is a view ofsaid trolley, certain parts being omittedfor clear- Yness ofillustration. Figs. 3 and 4 show modi- `hold the trolley-poles Ain fixedpositions.

` Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe views.

*Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a car of the type commonly inuse on streetvrailroads providedat the top thereof with a trolley 2,which consists in the preferred embodiment of my invention of a verticalstandard 3, strengthened by the diagonal brace 4, said .standardcarrying at the upper end thereof and rotatably` mounted thereon avertical rod 5, having hinged thereto, as shown, two trolley-poles 6 and7, which poles are also hinged together at 17. Each pole is providedwith trolley-wheels 8 of the usual form, journaled in the upper endsthereof for engagement with a feed or trolley Wire 9. A spring connectedwith the poles 6 and 7 tends to bring the, same together and to urgeeach into contact with the wire 9.

Carried by the poles 6 and 7 arethe curved rack-arms 11 and 12, whichpass downward through openings 13 and 14C in the top of the car andareso arranged as to move in the space between the top 15 of the car andthe ceiling 16 of the car interior: To permit of the movement of therack-arms'll and 12 in the space mentioned, the. arms conform in sha-peapproximately to arcs of circles and the arm 12 is rigidly attached tothe pole 7 at a distance from the hinge 17 approximately equal to theradius of the aro corresponding to the curved arm 12. The arm 11 ispivoted to the pole 6 at a point relatively near the hinge 17, wherebywhen the pole 6 is lowered the arm 11 will move in the space between thetop of the car and the ceiling of the interior thereof.

To permit of the angular movements of the trolley-poles with referenceto the longitudinal axis of the car, which movement is necessary whenthe car passes around curves and in all cases where the feed-wire is notexactly over the center of the car, the openings 18 and 14 in thecar-top extend some distance transversely of the car. To accommodate theangular movement of the trolley mentioned, the diagonal brace 4 isprovided with a yoke 25, through which the rack-arm 12 passes. Thedistance between the sides of said yoke is made suicient to permit thewheel 8, carried by the trolley-pole 7, to follow the feed-wire underall circumstances in the practical operation of the car.

To cover the openings 13 and 14 in the top of the car and prevent thepassage of rain and dust therethrough, said openings are provided withguard-plates 26 and 27. The arms 11 and 12 move freely up and down insaid guard-plates, and the vlatter not being attached to the top of thecar move transversely thereupon with the movement of the rackarmspassing therethrough, effectually covering the openings 13 and 14 inevery position of the poles 6 and 7.

Attached to the top 15 of the car, preferably on the under side of saidtop, are provided spring-actuated bolts 17, which are adapted to engagewith the teeth on the curved arms 11 and 12. Connected with said boltsand serving to draw the same in opposition to the action of the springscarried thereby are cords 18, which terminate in handles 19 withinconvenient reach of an attendant standing on one of the platforms ofsaid car. Pulleys 2O may be provided to facilitate the movement of thecords 18, if desired.

Attached to the poles 6 and 7 near the upper ends thereof are cords orropes 21 to withdraw the trolley-wheels 8 from engagement with the wire9. These cords may pass down over the edges of the car-roof or throughopenings 22 in the top of the car and may terminate in handles 23 withinconvenient reach of an attendant standing upon one of the platforms.

The operation of my improved trolley is as follows: Vhen onetrolley-wheel is in contact with the feed-wire and the movement of thecar is to be reversed, the conductor or other attendant pulls upon thecord connected with the bolt which holds the other trolleypole out ofengagement with the wire. The lowered pole will thereupon be drawnupward by the spring 10 into contact with the wire. The poles 6 and 7being hinged together in angular alinement will each automaticallyengage the feed-wire upon being raised when the other pole engages saidwire.

It is obvious that the rack-bars 11 and 12 may be provided with angularteeth, over which the ends of the spring-actuated bolts 17 will slipautomatically when said arms are lowered, the bolts acting asratchet-arms to hold the curvedarms against upward movement. (See Fig.4.) It is also obvious that the teeth on the rack-arms 11 and 12need notextend entirely down to the lower ends thereof, but that the surface ofsaid lower ends may be made smooth to facilitate the free up-anddownmovement of the outer end of the trolley-poles where the elevation ofthe feedwire 9 is not uniform. (See Fig.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. A trolley consisting of a standard carrying two trolley -poles, eachcapable of independent motion with reference to the other, a springtending to draw said poles together and means adapted to secure saidpoles at any predetermined angle to each other and to the standard'.

2. A trolley consisting of a standard carrying two trolley-poles hingedtogether in angular alinement and each capable of independent motionwith reference to the other and means adapted to secure said poles atany predetermined angle to each other or to the standrsaid arms to holdthe poles at any predetermined angle to each other.

5. A trolley havingtwo trolley-poles hinged together in angularalinement, curved rackarms secured to and extending downward from saidpoles, means for engagement with said arms to hold the poles at anypredetermined angle to each other.

6. A trolley consisting of a standard carry-l ing two trolley-poleshinged together in angular alinement, curved rack-arms attached topoles, means for engagement with said rackarms to hold the poles at anypredetermined angle to each other, and means tending' to elevate thefree ends of said poles.

7. The combination with an electric car, of a trolley consisting of astandard carrying two trolley-poles capable of independent motion withreference to each other, curved rack- IOO IlO

[O of said poles, means'for holding said poles in fixed positions, andmeans capable of being operated from the car-platforms for controllingsaid last mentioned holding means,

whereby either or both of the said trolleypoles may be brought intoelectrical connec- I5 tion with an'overhead feed-Wire.

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS. In presence of- A. L. PHELPS, W. L. MoRRoW.

